Gross Giant Water Bug Devours Turtle

Gross Giant Water Bug Devours Turtle

This is indeed a horrific sight, it’s not often we get to see a giant bug eating another living being, in fact, bugs are usually the prey, not the other way around… but unfortunately, this huge monstrous insect has been known to feed on other animals. Large members in the Lethocerinae family are known to prey on small vertebrates including fish and frogs, but this rare role-reversed situation is just bizarre. Dr Shin-ya Ohba photographed this unusual behavior while he was night sampling in western Hyogo, central Japan.

He reported to the Entomological Science periodical, and even wrote an article in which he describes observing a Kirkaldyia deyrolli eating a pond turtle in a ditch close to a rice field. Using its long and scary front legs, the giant water bug clenched the turtle, inserting its syringe-like rostrum into its neck in order to feed on it. This species of bugs is known to attack moving prey so it’s very likely that the 58mm insect captured and killed the young turtle before feeding on it.

The same researcher has also photographed this killer insect as it fed on a water snake so this is not a rare incident, but rather a common happening. Giant water bugs are the largest of the true bugs (Hemiptera) and are found in freshwater ponds, lakes and slow-moving streams and rivers across North America, South America and East Asia. Hopefully, when you go visit, you won’t encounter this gross bug.

Below you can see a few pictures and a video of the creature.